The ministry of electronics and information technology (MeitY) has directed VPN service providers and online intermediaries to ensure they do not facilitate access to illegal betting and prediction market platforms such as Polymarket, signalling a tighter enforcement push against offshore gaming services operating in India through workarounds. Prediction market platforms such as Polymarket are banned in India. In an advisory issued on April 25, the ministry asked intermediaries and VPN providers to comply with due diligence obligations under existing law, warning that failure to do so could result in the loss of safe harbour protections available under Section 79 of the Information Technology Act. The government said the direction was issued in view of the “serious nature” of the issue. MeitY noted that some users were converting Indian rupees into virtual digital assets such as USD Coin (USDC) and other stablecoins to participate in such platforms despite domestic prohibitions. Polymarket is a crypto-based prediction market platform where users wager on the outcome of real-world events, ranging from elections to economic indicators, by buying and selling …